ACTU joins Fairfax case

The ACTU has weighed into the restructuring of
Fairfax Media
and will participate in a meeting today with four unions whose members are affected by the job losses.

ACTU secretary
Dave Oliver
said Fairfax had many questions to answer over the plan to cut 1900 jobs over three years while pushing further into digital publishing and shutting big printing presses in Sydney and Melbourne by mid-2014.

“We’re extremely concerned at the way they’ve treated their workforce and the lack of consultation about the changes and redundancies," he said.

The ACTU will discuss the restructuring with the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance; the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union; the Electrical Trades Union, and the Australian Services Union.

The AMWU, which represents printers, will refer Fairfax to Fair Work Australia on Thursday, saying the company has failed to consult with workers despite being required to do under their enterprise agreement.